Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race,annual dogsled race held run in March between Anchorage and Nome, Alaska, U.S. Both men and women The race can attract more than 100 participants and their teams of dogs, and both male and female mushers (drivers) compete together. A short race of 56 about 25 miles (90 40 km) organized in 1967 evolved in 1973 into the current race. The course, roughly 1,100 miles (1,770 km) long, partially follows the old Iditarod Trail dogsled mail route blazed from the coastal towns of Seward and Knik to Nome in 1910. (The Iditarod also commemorates an emergency mission to get medical supplies to Nome during a 1925 diphtheria epidemic.) The the goldfields and mining camps of Northwest Alaska in the early 1900s; sled teams delivered mail and supplies to such towns as Nome and Iditarod and carried out gold. The trail declined in use in the 1920s, when the airplane began to replace the dogsled as the primary means of crossing the difficult terrain. But when no capable pilot was available during Alaska’s diphtheria epidemic of 1925, a team of mushers battled blizzard conditions and rushed serum to icebound Nome. This heroic action brought renewed international fame to the trail and the dog teams, particularly to Balto, the lead dog of the team that finally reached Nome. The Iditarod race today largely commemorates this feat.

The racecourse crosses two mountain ranges (the Alaska and the Kuskokwim ranges), runs along the Yukon River for 150 miles (241 km), and crosses frozen waterways, including the pack ice of Norton Sound. The course length and route vary slightly from year to year, and the middle third takes alternate routes in odd and even years. In 1978 the original Iditarod Trail was designated a National Historic Trail.

The race has been criticized by animal-rights activists and others concerned about fatalities and injuries to the dogs. These critics claim that at least 114 dogs died during the first three decades of the race

in 1973 took the winning musher about 20 days, but the winning time has been reduced by almost half. In 1976 the U.S. Congress designated the original Iditarod Trail as a National Historic Trail

. But no top teams have ever lost a dog, and superior performance by a dogsled team is a reflection of superior day-to-day care on the trail. The Iditarod has increased mandatory rest stops, the amount of dog food at race checkpoints, and the authority of race veterinarians and officials to protect dogs.

The Iditarod is the premier event in dogsled racing. The greatest challenge of the Iditarod is putting together a team of 12–16 dogs and a musher capable of overcoming all the obstacles and unexpected problems that present themselves along the course. In its early years the race was a 20-day event, but today most teams finish in less than 10 days. The increased speed can be attributed to enhanced nutrition for the dogs and the run/rest strategy that mushers employ. There have been some changes to the equipment, but the basics of sleds and harnesses are the same as they were years ago. Among the race’s greatest mushers are Rick Swenson, Susan Butcher, and Doug Swingley.

The Iditarod has grown in fame and media attention over the years, and many of the mushers today enjoy corporate sponsorship. But, for the participants, the romance of the race remains firmly rooted in the haunting beauty of the frozen and inhospitable landscape experienced with just a dog team for company.